Between Land And Sea - 2016 - Ireland

Between Land And Sea - 2016 - 6/10

 
Lahinch, County Clare, Ireland.  The intrepid leap into the surf from the rocky shoals.
The ride back, approaching cliffs and boulders will require skill.
Surfing community in Ireland has grown and this doc examines a lot of players.
Several men, now with families, realize their time on big waves is closing.
Shot over a few years, we watch child Nora go from toddler to attending school.
This goes deeper than most surf porn, the interviewees (except one) more thoughtful.

Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The 'Plan 9' Companion - 1992 - USA

Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The 'Plan 9' Companion - 1992 - 6/10

 
Labor of love documentary / celebration of Ed Wood’s monsterpiece.
Sure, it reminds one of a fan doc, yet be thankful participants were interviewed before they were gone.
Locations are visited, including the derelict Quality Studio, cemetery, Tor’s house.
Better organized than any film Wood made, although this is still sporadic and meandering.
Over and over, the focus wanders away from Plan 9 onto players or oddball interviewees.
Perhaps little new for obsessives who have read or researched all matters Wood.
Breezy, informative, wistful to see and hear Maila (Vampira), Gregory, Conrad, shoot, even Valda.

Plan 9 From Outer Space - 1957 - USA

Plan 9 From Outer Space - 1957 - 4/10

 
What an enjoyable disaster.
Aliens revive the recent dead to show stupid, stupid Earthlings who’s going to call the shots.
Mind you, they reckon not with hot-tempered fists.
Cheap sets, inept SFX, poor dialogue, bad acting, mindless editing, no narrative.
I rewatch periodically with fondness, as I realize this was a game attempt by one with limited talent.
Hardly the worst film, in that it is never boring.  Confused, yes.
Give me a bad film with heart over formula dreck any day of the week.

Ed Wood - 1994 - USA

Ed Wood - 1994 - 6/10

 
Career?  What career?  Even by Poverty-Row standards, Wood’s product was dismal.
Even indie studios have zero interest.  Besides, a cross-dressing film?
Doris Wishman, Russ Meyer, they never did those.  Besides, their films made money!
Nevertheless, Wood’s fountain of optimism acquires a coterie including Tor, Bela, Dolores, Lyle.
At his lowest, inspired (encouraged?) by Orson Welles, young Ed forges ahead with Plan 9.
One watches this for the amazing performances (Depp, Landau, Arquette) and sympathetic direction.
The inaccuracies are well known, but it’s hard it dislike the intent here.
It would have been easy to ridicule Wood, his output, his friends.
This never does that.

Red Skelton Hour - 1954 - USA

Red Skelton Hour - 1954 - 5/10

 
Specifically “Dial B For Brush” season three finale with Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr, and Vampira.
Red, dimwitted door-to-door brush salesman, knocks at the home of a mad scientist.
Dr. Lugosi, along with his half brother, who is half werewolf.
The scientist needs an empty brain for a muddled experiment.
Wasp-waist Vampira plays the drop-dead femme interested in a quickie canoodle.
Of course this is ridiculously silly, yet Bela seems to be enjoying himself.
Red must have known how testy Lugosi could be about ad-lib and improvisation.

Lathe Of Heaven, The - 1980 - USA

The Lathe Of Heaven - 1980 - 7/10

 
Akin to the “The Monkey’s Paw”.  In a future time, highly overpopulated, George suffers dreams.
Only his dreams alter reality.
His psychiatrist, Dr. Haber, something between a meddler and a martinet, exploits this.
Remake society, build a better world.
Except there are always flaws in improvements.
Heady, intellectual SciFi (SpecFi, actually) has minimal budget but far-reaching concepts.
Some locations were the same as those in Logan’s Run.

Secrets Of A Secretary - 1931 - USA

Secrets Of A Secretary - 1931 - 6/10

 
On a drunken whim, heiress Helen marries caddish Frank, disowned by his family.
Abruptly, her father dies and Helen discovers the Crash had left him – and her – penniless.
So, she takes a job as social secretary (AKA - personal assistant) to a wealthy family.
Where she soon attracts a Lord, and finds racketeers in the background.
Pre-Code potboiler enhanced with a young Claudette Colbert and the mellifluous Herbert Marshall.
Depression romantic froth, elements might have contributed to My Man Godfrey (1936).

After Love - 2020 - UK

After Love - 2020 - 6/10

 
Ahmed comes home, sits down in the chair to relax, then slips into the afterlife.
Later on, wife Mary comes across bits of evidence.  That her husband was a cheater, with another life in France.
She catches the ferry and travels to Marseilles, where things get complicated.
Quiet film of multiple betrayals.  Also denial and curiosity.
Joanna Scanlan and Nathalie Richard carry the weight.
One, grieving and angry, the other angry because Ahmed has not arrived to help her relocate.
Dialogue is minimal.  Instead, we watch characters react, think, try to understand.

Asakusa Kid - 2021 - Japan

Asakusa Kid - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - Asakusa Kiddo // 浅草キッド

 
Early 1970’s, young Takeshi Kitano starts working at the failing France-Za club in Asakusa.
He’s there to learn from Fukami, one of comedy’s kings.
Time has moved away from his skits, however, replaced by manzai (straight man / funny man duos).
The closest I can categorize France-Za club is burlesque.  Striptease, skits, jokes, songs.
Fukami Senzaburo’s narrative is every bit as compelling as Kitano’s.
For Westerners, us who mostly know Kitano through his cinema, this is a revealing look at his comedy.
Also, a loving look back at the passing of an age.
Do yourself a favor, avoid dubbed, learn to read subs.

Golden Years - 2022 - Switzerland

Golden Years - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Die Goldenen Jahre

 
Aged 65, Peter is handed his retirement balloon and shown the door.
At home, wife Alice is now ready to live!  Travel, meet people, go!
While Peter just wants to stay home.  Fact is, they no longer have much in common.
They board a Mediterranean cruise, where the marriage begins to shred.
Bittersweet comedy of the unpredictable second act.
Divergent expectations, plans for the future, and basic incompatibility.
Surprising turns help this, as well as local color in the ports of call.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3363480

Get Your Man - 1927 - USA

Get Your Man - 1927 - 6/10

 
Mere children, young Robert and infant Simone are betrothed by their fathers.
17 years later, Robert is wandering Paris and keeps bumping into heiress Nancy.
“It must be Fate!” she finally exclaims.
He is engaged, honor is at stake, yet she determines to break that, and have him.
Breezy RomCom is a mere showpiece for Clara Bow.
She is on fire in this, flirting shamelessly with the camera, expressive, effervescent.
Missing reels are filled with inter-titles and still photos.

Playing Nice - 2025 - UK

Playing Nice - 2025 - 6/10

 
Whoops.  Two years on, the hospital discovers two boys had been switched at birth.
Parents notified, and the couples amicably opt for status quo with visitation rights.
Except the wealthier dad quietly maneuvers to acquire sole custody of both.
He has money, patience, and the charm of the solid citizen.
Didn’t take me long to start disliking this short series.
One character is a manipulative villain, the other is a mindless rube with a flash temper.
In the long run, neither one will be good for those kids. Especially as they grow older.
Twaddle.  Most know how this would play out in the real world.

Bis Zum Letzten Tropfen - 2022 - Germany

Bis Zum Letzten Tropfen - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Until The Last Drop

 
International conglomerate Aqua Pura arrives in tiny village Lauterbronn with a pitch.
You have mass reserves of underground water.  How about selling?  Create jobs?
Alas, for the residents, their mayor is an uninformed, unable to learn, dunce.
Even when family members and friends urge him to “read about this company, see what they have done!”
He relies on government officials, ignores drought, climate change.
The narrative is a foregone nightmare.

I warbled at this pompous suit throughout.  Years ago, our region witnessed the invasion of frakkers.
Communities were misled, frakking companies refused to disclose chemicals pumped down, or how the aquifer will be safeguarded.  When water is contaminated, who will remedy it?
Never sell your water.  Leash your politicians; they promise everything, but are weak and greedy.

Ladies Of The Jury - 1932 - USA

Ladies Of The Jury - 1932 - 6/10

 
Long, long before Twelve Angry Men there was this gem.
The elderly rich man has been murdered.  Allegedly by his trophy bride.
Who was an ex-chorus girl, and she is French!
Two strikes and the jury has made up its mind … save for one well-heeled biddy.
Edna May Oliver is almost insufferable at the beginning, but her character settles down.
There is a jury panel, lawyers, judge, bailiff, witnesses, and by the end one has a quick sketch of personalities.
Pre-Code comedy is barely an hour, but is packed with details, jokes, innuendo.